Release: How Come we Had About 84% Registered Voters Voted in Referendum?

How come we had about 84% Registered Voters cast their vote in the New Regions Creation Referendum?

The Africa Centre for Peace Building – AFCOPB has taken note of news reported on myjoyonline.com suggesting that the Director of Electoral Services of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe in justifying their request to Parliament to approve an amount of GH¢444,846,663 to compile a new voters’ register before the 2020 general election claiming among other things that “the current system is outdated and weak” and that “a lot of fingers can’t be recognized” in the electoral system.

“A lot of people’s fingers are failing to be recognized so with the new one that we want to introduce, we will add facial recognition, so that if the fingers fail we can use the face to verify,” he was quoted to have said.

We find these claims by the Electoral Commission as untenable, unjustified and a strong basis to question the results of the last year’s Referendum that gave the basis for the creation of the new six (6) regions considering the fact that about 1,844,310 were recorded to have voted in favour of YES out 2,208,869 total registered voters.

The breakdown of the results according to the Electoral Commission:

Western North Region:
The region has 502,185 registered voters and total votes cast was 390,128 representing 77.69% voter turnout. YES had 388,235 (99.15%) and NO had 942 (0.24%). Rejected votes 951 (0.24%)

Oti Region:
The region has 366,481 registered voters and total votes cast was 323708 representing 88.33% voter turnout. YES had 319,296 (98.64%) and NO had 2,878 (0.89%). Rejected votes 1,534 (0.49%)

Ahafo Region:
The region has 307,108 registered voters and total votes cast was 277,663 representing 90.41% voter turnout. YES had 276,763 (99.68%) and NO had 675 (0.24%). Rejected votes 225 (0.08%)

Bono East Region:
The region has 525,275 registered voters and total votes cast was 450,812 representing 85.82% voter turnout. YES had 448,545 (99.50%) and NO had 1384 (0.31%). Rejected votes 883 (0.20%)

Savannah Region:
The region has 253,566 registered voters and total votes cast was 207,343 representing 81.77% voter turnout. YES had 206,350 (99.52%) and NO had 647 (0.31%). Rejected votes 346 (0.17%)

North East Region:
The region has 254,243 registered voters and total votes cast was 205,804 representing 80.95% voter turnout. YES had 205,121 (99.67%) and NO had 447 (0.22%). Rejected votes 236 (0.11%)

From the above data on the 2018 Referendum, it is clear that all voters that participated in this high turnout voting exercise had to go through verifications as a prerequisite to vote.

It is therefore, unimaginable and of no justification why the same Electoral Commission that had confidence in the current voters’ register and the result it produced in the last Referendum to create additional regions will turn around to say that “A lot of fingers can’t be recognized” and that they need GH¢444,846,663 to compile a new register.

Current Voters’ Register “overstretched, outdated and weak”

This claim by the Electoral Commission need proper scrutiny and an explanation of what they mean by “overstretched, outdated and weak” register when we know for a fact that the system and or the software that is being used can be upgraded to meet the growing needs of the Electoral Commission and also that any faulty or dysfunctional equipment can be refurbished or replaced.

EC having full control over the Biometric Voters’ register:

We recall that a few days, Madam Jean Mensa told newsmen that the current Biometric Voters’ register data is controlled by external venders and that the Electoral Commission has no administrative rights to the passwords of the software. She also said none of the officers at the Electoral Commission had been trained to be able to handle the system and that everything is physically and remotely controlled by foreigners.

This claim if true shows clearly how individuals we put in high office to work for the interest of the nation usually fail to take decisions that are in the best interest of the nation.

We see the Electoral Commission’s insistence to compile a new voters’ register only as an avenue to help them have “full control” of the data for suspicious reasons as alleged by some major political parties. Some major opposition political parties have had cause to suspect that, the current Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, whose appointment was characterized by suspicions and mistrust has a hidden agenda to manipulate the 2020 elections in favour of the current government thus her actions.

It is also worth noting that, the fear of opposition parties and the public heightened when it was reported that the Chief Executive Officer of the National Communications Authority, Mr. Joe Anokye is to be the ruling New Patriotic Party’s representative of the Inter Party – Advisory Committee (IPAC) whereas the state Authority he is heading supervises and regulates the Telecom companies that play a very vital role in the transmitting election results.

We see these developments not in the best interest of peace before, during and after the 2020 elections.

Our Demands:
1. That the Electoral Commission should abort the decision to compile the new voters’ register that would cost the taxpayer GH¢444,846,663 and rather engage the current company handling the data to upgrade the existing system to meet their need at a lesser cost.
This is based on the fact that the Ghana Card registration which is still currently ongoing and being compiled will be managed by the National Identifications Authority and could be used for voting in the nearest future.
It will therefore be a waste of money to compile another register at this high cost.
2. From the EC’s 2018 Referendum Results, 1,855,458 people voted in the Referendum out of 2,208,869 Total Registered Voters. The Electoral Commission must explain to Ghanaians how the 1,855,458 people that voted were verified if a lot of fingers could not be recognized.
3. The EC must also tell Ghanaians how many voters’ fingers were not recognized by the system yet voted during the 2018 Referendum.
4. The EC must explain to Ghanaians what it means by the Voter Register is “Credible” when it is also saying “a lot of fingers can’t be recognized”

Signed:
Korsi Senyo
Executive Director, Africa Centre for Peace Building
Accra-Ghana
Cell: 0249155003